KHYBER: Over 6,000 tonnes of duty-free onion and tomatoes arrived in Pakistan through the Torkham border here on Friday.

Deputy collector customs at Torkham Amanat Khan said around 5,000 tonnes of onion and 1,800 tonnes of tomatos loaded in about 339 trucks entered Torkham on Friday morning.

He said the federal government had recently waived off customs duty on import of these two vegetables from Afghanistan and Iran owing to recent hike in their prices in local market and damage caused to such crops by the recent floods in different parts of the country.

The official said the customs staff had been deployed at the border crossing to facilitate speedy clearance of onion and tomatoes round-the-clock.

A local trader, Mujeebullah, welcomed the exemption of the two essential vegetables from customs duty, and expressed the hope that it would help bring down their prices in local markets.

He said such facilities by the federal government would also improve bilateral trade between the two countries.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2022